Webcasts

Archived Webcasts

“If you haven’t managed a transportation bid lately, it’s amazing how complicated and time-consuming that process can be. Automating processes remains at the forefront of the savvy supply chain professional’s needs. Through automating and streamlining your bids you can, for example, invite hundreds of national and regional carriers with a click, organize and analyze bid responses, and extract awarded lanes in a format ready for use in contract creation. Join our expert in carrier procurement as we define success through the RFP process.”

Sponsored by SMC³ and Jump Start 2016, this 60-minute webinar will address:

1. The factors for a successful bid.

2. Optimize your transportation expenditure and save time.

3. Strengthen your negotiation.

Join our expert in the RFP process as we explore automating and streamlining bids.

Freight logistics companies, industry analysts, and technology providers are talking about how the Internet of Things is already impacting global supply chains. The Internet of Things (IoT) provides connectivity of devices, systems, people, and services worldwide, offering potential improvements to the way global supply chains operate on a day-to-day basis. Gartner describes IoT as “a revolution waiting to happen”: in 2020, 25 billion connected devices will be in use, representing a 30-fold increase for supply chains. Freight logistics companies that grasp this opportunity stand to gain a distinct competitive advantage.

This webinar will discuss how freight logistics companies can harness the IoT revolution and take advantage of this imminent opportunity. We’ll discuss our point of view about IoT for freight logistics, share a vision of how carriers will use the IoT in the near future, and discuss how your company can be a part of the transformation. With examples, case studies, and suggestions about how to get started and pitfalls to avoid, this is sure to be an interactive conversation you won’t want to miss.

Join us for a provocative look at exactly what the Internet of Things revolution means for freight logistics operations, and what opportunities there are to streamline operations, improve customer service, and reduce cost. To explore the Internet of Things vision for the near future, see the infographic and IBM solutions here.

Optimism among trucking executives is on an extended run. Supply and demand are largely in balance, giving carriers much-desired pricing power. In general, trucking is outperforming the general U.S. economy and the international trade market, and profits are growing sharply. Truckload and less-than-truckload rates have risen this year as capacity has tightened and economic growth has accelerated, even if only moderately. Overall, the strong showing sets the stage for an even stronger latter part of 2015 but challenges ranging from driver shortages and new regulatory demands are putting increasing pressure on shippers to find the capacity they need to move their goods efficiently.

This webcast will analyze these issues to determine whether the industry will continue its growth momentum while exploring one sure way shippers can unlock capacity in an increasingly capacity-constrained market: through dedicated services.

Increasingly companies across all industries are adopting data-driven decision making in their strategic planning and with good reason. Companies that follow data-driven decision methodologies are 3 times more likely to execute their decisions as intended. But what many companies are learning the hard way is that data alone does not help you make decisions. Gathering the correct dataset is often just the first of a series of time-consuming and repetitive steps that need to be taken to convert raw, unstructured data into the insights they need to base important decisions on.

In this webcast we will examine some of the struggles companies have working with unstructured trade data and some of the common pitfalls of trying to solve these problems in-house.

The webcast will be concluded with a live demo of PIERS new automated platforms that help companies in the transportation, chemical and manufacturing industries eliminate this work while increasing data quality and providing insights as specified by the customer.

Shippers and carriers across all modes are beginning what they hope will be a strong peak-shipping season. The North American economy, while not firing on all cylinders, is growing at a steady clip. Consumer sentiment, which has lagged overall economic growth, finally is improving, and the National Retail Federation is predicting its best year for retail sales in half a decade. Ocean carriers, however, still are wrestling with excess capacity, as new, giant ships enter the Asia-Europe and trans-Pacific trades are outpacing expected growth in demand. Ports, meanwhile, are preparing for another influx of cargo that raises the specter of the kind of congestion that has hurt efficiency at East and West Coast ports and in Europe and Asia.

This Webcast will analyze the upcoming peak-shipping season, including the retail outlook for the holiday buying season that is so critical to shippers and carriers.

As the driver of global trade, the Asia-Pacific region has some of the strongest and most rapidly emerging economies, from the world’s manufacturing and export giant China to India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. But the dynamics of that trade are changing rapidly, as China and others develop a rapidly growing middle class. To fill that demand, once-dominant exporters increasingly are manufacturing products for their home markets and relying on exports from overseas to fill the void. In the long term, that’s great news for North American exporters, but the shorter-term outlook isn’t as bright. China’s economic growth, the marvel of the world for more than a decade, is slowing, and other countries largely are net sellers for now. But with the North American economy accelerating and Europe finally getting its footing, the Asia trade undoubtedly will be the driver for supply chain interests for the foreseeable future.

This Webcast will examine that outlook for trade with Asia and the implications for North American importers and exporters and the transportation providers that serve them. It will include the latest information on the regulatory environment, especially in China, and analysis of infrastructure initiatives such as China’s One Belt, One Road, an intercontinental overland network connecting Asia and Europe.

The annual Top 100 Importers and Exporters report is one of the most extensive and popular products The Journal of Commerce produces. Based on months of exclusive research, the report analyzes the largest global companies shipping containerized goods to and from the U.S., essential information for shippers, transportation providers and third-party logistics providers.

In this webcast, JOC Research Editor Marsha Salisbury will dissect this year’s rankings on the U.S. inbound and outbound trades and analyze the major sectors represented, the largest traders within those sectors and the factors influencing the results.

According to the Customs Modernization Act of 1993, all entities of the U.S. importing community are required to use “reasonable care” to report accurate and complete information to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) at the time of entry.

How do you rank your organization’s own compliance program and reasonable care process? How would CBP view your reasonable care process?

Join Amber Road and the Journal of Commerce on Thursday, June 11th at 2pm EDT to learn how to achieve reasonable care programs based on CBP guidelines and court cases. Key takeaways include:

Factors that reflect a reasonable care process according to CBP

How to implement an import risk model based on your company’s import statistics

Key strategies for developing written procedures and an audit process with clearly defined checks and balances and accountability

Best practices for leveraging automation to support “reasonable care” within your organization

Timed to run a month after the 15th Annual JOC TPM Conference, this webcast will focus on the supply and demand of container space in the Trans-Pacific trade, the economic fundamentals driving it and what it means for intermodal rail, industrial real estate, and other segments of the supply chain. The big test for carriers this year is whether they’ll be able to manage vessel capacity in a way that limits the effect of the huge amount of new ships scheduled to be delivered. Several factors will help determine how that will play out, including the launch of new and expanded alliances, including the 2M between Maersk Line and Mediterranean Shipping Co., and the Ocean Three among CMA CGM, China Shipping and United Arab Shipping Co. The true measure of that test will come later this spring, when shippers and carriers wrap up annual service contracts, and when the backlog of cargo is cleared from West Coast ports after the brutal, nine-month contract talks between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and employers represented by the Pacific Maritime Association.

2014 was a tough year for coast-to-coast shipping capacity for perishables & other products. Service changes, extreme weather, the closing of competitors, and less trucks on the road are just the tip of the iceberg. Yet Railex has found a way to not only survive, but also thrive in this difficult period, positioning itself for even faster growth in 2015 and beyond.

In this webcast, Railex reviews the capacity challenges - new and old - that 2014 sprung for temperature-controlled transport and with the 2015 West Coast Port Agreement recently reached, what that could mean as we move deeper into the year. It also reveals new shipping opportunities in 2015 that can be critical for streamlining your perishables supply chain.

North American retailers have endured some of the wildest swings in recent years over the past nine months. On the positive side, the U.S. economic growth is showing consistently strong growth from quarter to quarter and sales are strong. On the downside, retail supply chains are being challenged like never before. Some of the nation’s largest ports, from Los Angeles-Long Beach in the west to New York-New Jersey in the east, have been wrestling with severe congestion that has backed up cargo movements and, in some cases, led to weeks of delays in deliveries. And that was before the situation worsened during protracted, controversial and gridlock-inducing labor negotiations between employers and West Coast dockworkers represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Meanwhile, other factors are challenging the very nature of retail sales, none so much as the rapid growth in the e-commerce craze that has prompted omnichannel sales strategies among retailers and dramatic changes for ocean carriers, trucking companies, industrial real estate operators and other supply chain interests.

This webcast will analyze the opportunities and challenges retailers face in this environment, the outlook for retail imports flowing through North American ports and how the changing nature of the retail business is impacting warehousing, inventories, and industrial real estate.

The increasing size of container vessels, the intensity of port calls, the automation of terminal operations and the omnipresent drive to better manage bunker and stowage costs are increasing pressure on both ocean carriers and terminal operators. As carriers invest billions in new vessels, terminal operators are also heavily funding operational improvements to meet the demands of these massive new ships to ensure they can be turned around as quickly as possible.

This webcast will examine the current challenges ocean carriers and terminal operators face to become more efficient and profitable. Speakers will address opportunities for coordination to tackle issues together around information sharing, data quality, vessel stowage and increased utilization.

The volatility ocean carriers, shippers, and intermediaries experienced in 2014 may have been severe, but it’s becoming more evident that such unpredictability is the new normal. 2014, of course, was marked by several industry-changing events: the collapse of the P3 Network and quick formation of the 2M, Ocean Three and expansion of the G6 alliances; West Coast longshore labor talks that start well but, by the New Year had degenerated so much that federal mediation was required; severe congestion at ports in the U.S., Europe and Asia resulting from increasing volumes, new mega-ships that put strains on manpower and equipment, and chassis and gate dislocations. As 2015 begins, questions abound: What will the final outcome of negotiations between the ILWU and employers yield and how will it impact ports and carriers? What impact will the launch of new alliances have on carrier services, ports, and shippers? With containerized trade expected to build on unexpectedly strong 2014 volumes, how will ports and terminal operators respond?

This webcast will examine the outlook for the containerized shipping market, the economic indicators playing into that and what impact the new alliances will have on service, reliability and visibility.

Over the past year, a handful of less-than-truckload carriers have announced programs to introduce density-based pricing in response to a large contingent of shippers who have long demonstrated an interest. The density-based model takes a simple approach, where rates are set depending on tiers of a shipment’s density. While the LTL industry is looking hard at a migration to density-based pricing, a number of shippers have voiced reluctance, preferring to instead embrace, for now, what they know best— the National Motor Freight Traffic Classification model.

With misinformation flooding the market and fueling fears among shippers, supply chain professionals in the know are speaking out.

Sponsored by SMC³ and Jump Start 2015, this 60-minute webinar will address:

1. The factors driving the move to density-based pricing.

2. How would density-based pricing change LTL?

3. Advantages of density-based pricing.

4. Advantages of the NMFC system.

In this webcast, we’ll provide information and answer questions to help you determine whether density-based pricing or classification is the better option for your company.

The final 15 minutes will be reserved for a live Q&A with the audience.

Join our panel of representatives from across the U.S. supply chain as they take on the task of eliminating the misinformation and addressing the future of density-based pricing and NMFC.

This webcast is sponsored by SMC³, the leading provider of data, technology and education as an integrated solution to the freight transportation community, and is produced by JOC Group Inc.. There is no fee to attend this webinar.